Fever spreads

Area communities become fired up at football teams' semifinal berths

Most schools' athletes traded their football cleats for basketball shoes this fall, but for the few teams that remain in the chase for the championship, it is the most exciting time of the season.

It is schoolboy football playoff time, and more people than just the players are getting geared up for action.

Three Texas teams and one from Oklahoma battled their way to the semifinal round of playoffs for their classifications this weekend. Hereford, Canadian, Groom and Turpin, Okla., are filled with fans anticipating the post-season clashes.

"It's kind of been a little bit of a dry spell around here," said Cuby Kitchens of Hereford. "Way back in '81 and '86, we were in the semifinals."

Kitchens, whose grandson, Cody Marsh, is on the Hereford Whitefaces team, will be attending the Saturday game against Waco Midway in the Class 4A Division I semifinals. He will be there as a fan and a radio announcer, a job he's done for 15 years.

"I'll be there if I can find my way to Abilene. I guess I can just follow the crowds," Kitchens said.

When the Turpin Cardinals head for Woodward, Okla., Saturday to play against the Luther Lions, Dan Duerson better not have a problem locating the field. He drives the team bus.

Team suppers provided by the mothers of players and wives of coaches combine with outdoor decorations to provide sure signs this isn't just another game week in Turpin.

The Cardinals are no strangers to the playoffs, but that hasn't kept people from expressing their excitement by "loading the school with signs."

"We won state in '63 when we played eight-man ball, and I was in school. Since we went to 11-man, we've been to state three times and won twice," Duerson said.

The Canadian Wildcats have been in this situation only once before in the football program's history, and that was last season. But folks in Canadian are trying to contain their emotions before the Wildcats' Class 2A Division I semifinal Saturday against Boyd in Vernon.

"We're kind of like our team - low key. They just go out and do their job," said Susan Tennant, whose son, Eric Hall, is a co-captain of the team. "Except us moms, we get a little carried away. It makes us feel like we're helping."

Fans of the Groom Tigers also are trying to keep their focus on getting through their six-man semifinal Friday against Rule in Floydada.

"It's been a long time since we've gotten this far, but we're trying to do things the way we normally do. We're trying to keep it in perspective and go one game at a time," said Marcia Conrad, whose son, Russell Conrad, is on the team.

Curtis Downs has filmed Tiger games since 1993 and said he expects Groom to be pretty deserted Friday night.

"I just want to say that historically, the Carson County sheriff has increased his patrols in towns on nights like this," Downs said.

This week's playoff action also will see five area teams trying to make it into the semifinals. Wheeler, Childress, Canyon, Stratford and Paducah will be trying to make it into the final four.